In our final episode of 2022, and before we take our break for Christmas and New Year, we leave you with some thoughts to ponder, about the importance of multiple streams of income. With so much in the news that’s not altogether positive, we think it’s worth reminding everyone, ourselves included, that the future is very much uncertain, and it’s well worth being in the position where you can earn income via a variety of streams, so you don’t ever have to rely on one sole source. Easier said that...
Dec 20, 2022•32 min•Ep. 67
This week’s episode is just a short burst of news and updates you might not have known about. First up, Canva. Canva announces the Canva Visual Worksuite, including Canva Docs at their annual conference. They’re not holding back when it comes to developing their platform even further. They are constantly upping their game! Canva info: https://thedigitalgeneralist.substack.com/p/canva-ups-their-game-again Next up; how to find out what your clients are searching for on Google - the non creepy way....
Oct 19, 2022•8 min•Ep. 66
In this episode, we have a very special guest - and I say special, because our guest, Samantha Fitzgibbons, happens to be Rich’s bestie of some 17 years, and counting! Sam has recently had her debut novel, Happy State, published, so we decided to have a chat with her about the book, and the path which led her to where she is now. Having trained as an actress, then subsequently completing a degree in psychology, to being a professional copywriter for businesses, as well as now, a published author...
Aug 31, 2022•38 min•Ep. 65
At least for as long as The Apprentice has been on air, our lives have been filled with such phrases as ‘smash it!’, ‘knocking it out of the ballpark’, ‘doing it for the team’, ‘absolute home run!’, ‘MVP’ etc. However there are some legitimate ways running a business is very much like sports psychology; so given the Commonwealth Games are well underway in Birmingham, we thought we’d take a little look into the concept. Just like in sport, running a business is a marathon, not a sprint. You’ll ha...
Aug 03, 2022•22 min•Ep. 64
With rail strikes looming and petrol prices at record highs - just how much does this kind of disruption affect modern business operations? With more people continuing to work from home post-pandemic, and the business landscape looking like it’s probably changed for good, are there as many people likely to be as affected with these disruptions as there once were? If even more people have flexi-working arrangements and work from home continues to be even more commonplace, will these disruptions b...
Jul 07, 2022•30 min
Elon Musk is purportedly in the closing stages of buying Twitter for a cool $44Bn - there have been extremely mixed reports online as to whether people are all for it, or think it’s the worst plan ever. Twitter has been likened to a cesspool for many years - does this mean he’s now going to come in and clean it up and make it a more positive environment? Or will it just make things worse? Then again, as we’ve said many a time, your experience on any platform is predominantly decided upon who you...
Apr 29, 2022•35 min•Ep. 62
We found an article from Foundation Inc that was all about how to write better headlines from the pros at LinkedIn. Needless to say, our interest was piqued, as getting better at anything has to be a good thing, and if it helped our combined LinkedIn activity, then that’s always good, no? But after finding a couple of useful bits, like keeping things succinct etc, the ‘tips’ went on to be more and more….well….ludicrous - to the point that these ‘tips’ were no longer useful, and were encouraging ...
Feb 23, 2022•27 min•Ep. 61
In this episode we talk about what it means to start a business in 2022, to take the leap from ‘safe’ employment into the world of the self-employed. A topic close to our team (and hearts!), as Jason has recently done just that - stepped back from many years service as an employee in a big business, to starting his own journey into the world of self-employment. We look at the reasons WHY people want to start their own businesses, whether you should go down the Ltd company route, or stay as a Sol...
Feb 02, 2022•33 min•Ep. 60
With the meteoric rise that Canva has seen over the last few years, it was inevitable that competitors would rise to get a slice of the action. Given how Canva has completely changed the game in the world of graphic design, democratising the way graphics (and now of course video) is created by not just graphic design professionals, but by everyone - through the use of templates and pre-made elements that people can incorporate within their designs; a major player had to take notice. The major pl...
Jan 14, 2022•34 min•Ep. 59
In our final episode of 2021, we just wanted to give you a few updates of things you need to know. As you know, we had to cancel our December networking event due to the current Omicron spread and the restrictions that are currently in place - we decided to wait until the new year instead of putting on a substandard event, so fingers crossed this is just a very temporary suspension of our events, and we look forward to welcoming you back hopefully early in 2022. In the meantime, we will continue...
Dec 16, 2021•5 min•Ep. 58
Well, it’s official, Christmas is fast approaching now from all angles, whether you’re ready or not! The wine is starting to flow, the nibbles are out, and people are gathering at all manner of festive themed networking events at this time of year. Hopefully your workplace is putting on some kind of Christmas party this year after the tumultuous time we had last year, and now the hospitality industry is so well versed in keeping venues and guests as safe as possible, we hope you enjoy letting yo...
Nov 25, 2021•19 min•Ep. 57
In this episode, we discuss LinkedIn’s latest offering - an in-built freelance services marketplace - an additional function within your LinkedIn profile for adding ‘open to work’ banners to your profile picture, as well as the option to add various keywords about your service offering, so people can find you more readily when they need your skills. It supersedes the ‘ProFinder’ offering they’d trialled a while back and, after a beta trial in the USA earlier this year, this service is now fully ...
Nov 03, 2021•30 min•Ep. 56
Running our businesses, (and indeed lives), old school - does it still have a place in an ever-more digital society? With so much focus these days on people, and indeed businesses taking advantage of the latest platforms and technologies, i.e. the TikTok generation (something that completely eludes us, I might add) - there doesn’t seem to be anywhere near as much focus on tried and tested marketing methods that would now be considered ‘old school’. But does old school mean old and futile? Not wh...
Oct 20, 2021•29 min•Ep. 55
In this episode we talk to Dan Hoff-Rodrigues from CX Squared Talent Solutions based in the Midlands. Dan’s company focusses on recruitment for the tech industry - but he doesn’t work in the traditional model of recruitment, but favours a ‘Talent As A Service’ model, helping to drive the industry into the 21st century. You’ll learn about his career path to date bringing him to where he is now, and why he wanted to disrupt the face of recruitment by doing things in a different way. Why he’s a ‘Du...
Oct 06, 2021•45 min•Ep. 54
A raw and unplanned episode filled with some topical updates, including the state of the electric vehicle infrastructure, as well as updates on the Birmingham Clean Air Zone and how that’s going. Electric Vehicles & Infrastructure: Midlands Connect calls for urgent action needed to speed up the expansion of EV charging points in the midlands. EV use will increase by more than 3000% by the end of the decade, and currently we’re lagging behind. Around 500 charging points are being installed ev...
Sep 22, 2021•31 min•Ep. 53
LinkedIn now has nearly 740million members, & over 55million registered companies. Microsoft bought Skype in 2011. They then bought LinkedIn in 2016. They’ve had the ability to bring in video technologies to LinkedIn for years now. So why the delay? At the beginning of 2020 saw the massive rise of Zoom, from a little heard-of video conference app, to global powerhouse, exponentially increasing their user base in a very short space of time thanks to the pandemic. With LinkedIn bringing their ...
Sep 08, 2021•27 min•Ep. 52
When you’re self-employed, a freelancer or solopreneur, it can be difficult to make the time to take time away from your business and go on holiday. There’s often guilt about not being available to your clients, worries about loss of earnings, pressures of getting someone in to cover for you while you’re away; meaning there are so many people that don’t take annual holidays at all. This can be extremely damaging to your physical and mental health. We aren’t robots, we’re humans - we can’t work 2...
Aug 25, 2021•27 min•Ep. 51
In this episode, we reflect on the fact we have just hosted our first in-person networking event in over 17 months! It was a strange feeling being back in our spiritual home of networking - but quickly the strangeness subsided into a feeling of (relative) normality, and absolute familiarity. We had a (capped) roomful of people eager to get back to business networking, with great, deeper conversations happening throughout. It really was great to see. We also reflect in this episode about how we c...
Aug 11, 2021•26 min•Ep. 50
In this episode, Richard and Iwan give a run down of some of their top productivity tools that they simply can’t live without. (What they did before then, who knows…) We cover various business tools, apps, software and platforms that simply make life easier in 2021 and beyond - tools that will often save you lots of time and effort, in turn making you a more productive business owner. There are also mentions in this episode of great free or low cost alternatives to the more well known ‘big boy’ ...
Jul 28, 2021•35 min•Ep. 49
A new (to us) technology has been stumbled upon - the digital business card. An NFC-enabled plastic credit card sized business card that can be scanned on the recipient’s phone, loading up a browser page with all your relevant contact details and web links - with a big shiny button front and centre to allow that person to immediately save your details to their phone’s address book. The technology isn’t necessarily that new - but it’s the first time we’ve seen it in such a slick easy to use and d...
Jul 14, 2021•30 min•Ep. 48
A phrase we’ve all heard before - ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ - certainly some truth to it - albeit with some negative connotations. In this episode we’re discussing generalists versus specialists - which is more preferable? Maybe there’s no right or wrong answer, as there are a multitude of advantages and disadvantages to both. Whether you’re an employee or a business owner, this topic will apply to you, as you may already fit on one side of the fence on this one, possibly happy with w...
Jun 30, 2021•23 min•Ep. 47
With the recent announcement from The Government that so called ‘Freedom Day’ being set for June 21st is now being put back by 4 weeks, it means our plans have now had to change too. We are now planning on bringing back our in-person networking events, hopefully, in August. But of course, watch this space and subscribe to our newsletter and follow our socials for the latest news on that. It brings with it the renewed thoughts of the importance of being flexible and adaptable, as changes are like...
Jun 16, 2021•16 min•Ep. 46
Business is gradually returning to some sense of normality; people are back at work, shops are open, and for the most part, we can more or less return to life as we kind of knew it. Many companies are transitioning their office buildings to accommodate hybrid working, allowing for people to continue to work from home indefinitely, and scaling down their premises to have spaces to meet and collaborate, but not necessarily every day. Companies such as HSBC, Lloyds, Standard Chartered are doing so,...
May 26, 2021•27 min•Ep. 45
In this episode we talk to Jenna Lawson and Georgia Beech from Seamless OS, an outsourcing company based in Birmingham. Throughout this episode, they both highlight the benefits involved in starting your outsourcing journey, the amount of money you might save if you start outsourcing compared to hiring in-house teams of people, or indeed doing various tasks yourself. And for many small businesses, especially over the tumultuous last year, how outsourcing various tasks can help business owners st...
May 05, 2021•30 min•Ep. 44
With more options to network online than ever, especially during Covid where it’s been of utmost importance, we discuss the latest iteration of platforms - Clubhouse; the audio networking platform that’s slowly taking the world by storm. Used as a platform that’s akin to Zoom, but without the cameras, people are using it in a multitude of ways; general group chat, Q&As with industry experts, panel discussions, the list goes on. And of course, as soon as something becomes popular, all the oth...
Apr 21, 2021•41 min•Ep. 43
In this episode we talk to Roger Wood, Director at Midlands based Venture Capital firm Midven. We discuss the obvious comparison - what does real-world small business investing look like in the real world, and is it anything remotely like what we see on Dragon’s Den? (Or Shark Tank in the USA). Roger explains all a small business would need to know should they be thinking about seeking investment for their own business. Key things discussed include; what makes a business investment-ready? What a...
Apr 07, 2021•46 min•Ep. 42
Covid vaccines have been rolled out at an unprecedented rate. The general mood of the country is gradually improving now we have the roadmap out of lockdowns, with ‘life after lockdown’ being a firm light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. So we ask, how important is hope in business? Many businesses this last 12 months have innovated their way to staying afloat, and in some cases, success and thriving. Being adaptable to change and uncertain futures has been a key marker in seeing how a busines...
Mar 24, 2021•28 min•Ep. 41
In the technological age we’re living in, we’re now all too used to being reachable by a multitude of communications media - email, text, social media, mobile phones, video conferencing. When email came around, people proclaimed ‘the letter is dead!’. Of course that’s not true. When texting, WhatsApp, social media etc came about - people then proclaimed that ‘email is dead!’. Of course, that’s not true either! It’s more about its importance in our lives, and how we adapt to technology, to make i...
Mar 03, 2021•43 min•Ep. 40
In this episode we look at if it’s possible to run a small business using pretty much entirely free, or low-cost software, as opposed to the ‘big players’ like Microsoft 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud for instance. With the notion of ‘buying software outright’ being far less commonplace in this digital age, with subscription models being favoured far more - are the free and low cost options as good for most people? What are the downsides? Do you need software to be up-to-the-minute updated? Will f...
Feb 17, 2021•36 min•Ep. 39
A new wearable technology has been launched, called Moodbeam - a smart bracelet that allows employers to track your mental health. It consists of 2 buttons, you press yellow for if you’re happy, blue if you’re sad. It allows employers to check in remotely with home-workers to see big swathes of data to see who is ok and who is demonstrating signs of needing wellbeing support. We discuss whether this is the natural next step for companies to take in order to track and monitor the mental wellbeing...
Feb 03, 2021•32 min•Ep. 38
